EDITORIAL
Resistant Hypertension: A Real Entity or a Phantom Diagnosis? Costas Thomopoulos, MD; George Skalis, MD; Thomas Makris, MD Department of Cardiology, Helena Venizelou Hospital, Athens, Greece
The term resistant hypertension was first described between the late 1960s and late 1970s to identify patients in whom one or more antihypertensive drugs were not able to control blood pressure (BP) or in whom ongoing treatment was impeded by major side effects.1–3 Henceforward, newer drugs proved effective in reversing resistant hypertension and adequately reducing BP. Good examples were agents such as labetalol, furosemide, and minoxidil added to underlying conventional treatment.3–5 Gifford and Tarazzi6 in 1978 defined resistant hypertension as a failure to achieve BP control
Resistant Hypertension: A Real Entity or a Phantom Diagnosis? Costas Thomopoulos, MD; George Skalis, MD; Thomas Makris, MD Department of Cardiology, Helena Venizelou Hospital, Athens, Greece
The term resistant hypertension was first described between the late 1960s and late 1970s to identify patients in whom one or more antihypertensive drugs were not able to control blood pressure (BP) or in whom ongoing treatment was impeded by major side effects.1–3 Henceforward, newer drugs proved effective in reversing resistant hypertension and adequately reducing BP. Good examples were agents such as labetalol, furosemide, and minoxidil added to underlying conventional treatment.3–5 Gifford and Tarazzi6 in 1978 defined resistant hypertension as a failure to achieve BP control
